King Charles & Prince William Are Reportedly Royal 'Rivals' as a New Palace Feud Emerges

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Move over, Prince Harry, there’s a new royal family feud at the palace!

While critics have been harsh about Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit, it seems that there was a fresh battle being waged behind palace walls. King Charles III and Prince William reportedly butted heads after the Prince of Wales revealed his plans to rule differently from his father when he takes the throne. 

“I’m trying to do it differently, and I’m trying to do it for my generation,” he told The Times during his South Africa tour. “To give you more [of] an understanding around it, I’m doing it with maybe a smaller ‘r’ in the royal.” That strategy didn’t exactly please the king, who is upholding the protocols his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, set after her coronation in 1953.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams explained to Us Weekly that Prince William wants the royal family to have a “contemporary appeal” which means fewer patronages for him and Kate Middleton. That divide has led to two factions running the show — Charles’ team and William’s team — and they are territorial over their turf and are considered “rivals.”

“William is very stubborn and private. He keeps his movements and calendar away from Charles’ team to such an extent that he won’t listen to anyone or take guidance from [his father] or his team,” an insider told the media outlet. “He keeps things very locked down and separate.” 

The irony of it all is that William is looking to Harry’s playbook because the Sussexes’ ideas for a modern monarchy weren’t so bad after all. “One person who’s probably sitting there thinking ‘this is what I’ve been saying all along’ is the Duke of Sussex,” Katie Nicholl, author of The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, said on The Sun‘s Royal Show last week. “Let’s be more open, let’s show more empathy, let’s do things a little bit differently.”

With a bumpy ride ahead, the latest royal feud shows the cracks in the palace walls. Prince Harry probably wasn’t the problem all along, but he was an easy target. William and Charles are likely to continue to bump heads as they battle over who really has the best leadership plan.

Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.